Coach Chesswick
Hi MrPent0! Here’s a focused review of your recent play and a roadmap for climbing beyond your current 1616 (2024-08-03).
What’s already working
- Active, tactical mindset. Your win versus creed_bratton showed confident piece activity in the Modern Defense, culminating in the neat mating net 50.g4 Qh2# ().
- Resourceful in unbalanced positions. Several victories (e.g. Dutch and French sidelines) featured pawn storms, exchange sacrifices and rook lifts—evidence you’re comfortable when the position catches fire.
- Practical end-game technique. In the marathon against kindwind2 you converted a material edge while low on time—good sign that you keep your head in the scramble.
Biggest improvement levers
- King safety and forcing moves. Two quick defeats (17.Qxh7# in the Nimzo & the Sicilian collapse against eyes38) came from overlooking single-move threats. Run the “Checks, Captures, Threats” scan every turn, especially after you move a defender.
- Opening focus. You currently juggle Modern, Dutch, Nimzo, Caro-Kann … a wide net for 3-minute chess. Narrow to one defence versus 1.d4 and one versus 1.e4 for the next 30 days; depth beats breadth at this stage.
- Piece coordination. Several losses featured knights on the rim, undeveloped queenside pieces and loose pawns (e.g. …b5 in the Nimzo left c6 and a6 soft). Aim to complete development by move 10–12 in every game.
- Clock discipline. Your time usage spikes between moves 15-25—right when the tactics explode. Try the “10-second rule”: bank at least 10 s on the clock before making any move that changes the pawn structure or wins material.
4-week action plan
- Tactics first. 20 daily puzzles focusing on mates in 2-4 and defensive themes like discovered attacks and the zwischenzug. Track streaks for motivation.
- Model-game study.
• vs 1.e4 — Caro-Kann: replay 5 annotated master games.
• vs 1.d4 — Classical Nimzo: same drill.
Pause at every branch and guess the next move before revealing it. - Self-annotation. After each session pick one victory and one loss, mark “Critical Moments” and write one sentence on why the played move succeeded or failed.
- End-game reps. Drill R + P vs R and opposite-colored bishop endings twice a week; your conversion rate is good but tightening this screw wins free rating points.
Track your progress
Use these dashboards to spot when you play your best chess:
Final encouragement
Your attacking flair is already scary; once the early blunders disappear you’ll be the one delivering the miniature mates, not receiving them. Stick to the plan, review every game, and a 1650+ blitz rating should arrive sooner than you think. Good luck—see you on the leaderboard!